This invention relates to a holder for precise location of the filament of wire lamps, in particular, to a holder for halogen cycle lamps, and to single-ended inner lamps mounted in a reflector.
Now, as in the past, reflector lamps, such as sealed beam automotive lamps, require careful construction to ensure precise alignment of the filament with the optics of the reflector. Recently, the use of sealed inner lamps and, particularly, single-ended halogen cycle lamps has complicated the manufacture of sealed beam lamps since more manufacturing steps have been added which affect the alignment of the filament with the reflector optics. For example, the use of allglass, wire, baseless, or wedge-base lamps (herein referred to as "inner lamps") requires both the precise alignment of the filament within the envelope and the alignment of the envelope with the reflector.
Further, the mass of the inner lamp must be adequately supported with respect to the reflector so that the initial alignment is not lost through vibration and shock. However, the support of the lamp cannot be considered independently of other factors affecting the manufacture of the inner lamps. For example, adequate support requires that large lead wires be used which will be sufficiently rigid to hold the lamp in place. However, the use of large lead wires makes sealing the inner lamp difficult, due to the size of the wire and its coefficient of thermal expansion.